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September 12, 2005

Thailand Artist Makes Edible ‘Body Parts’

by Sam Savage

POTHARAM, Thailand -- Inside a dark room, realistic-looking "human body parts" are stacked on shelves and hanging on meat hooks. The place looks like a mortuary or the lair of a serial killer, but in fact, it's a bakery.

What appears to be putrefying body parts are the bread sculptures of 28-year-old art student Kittiwat Unarrom.

"Of course, people were shocked and thought that I was mad when they saw the works. But once they knew the idea behind it, they understood and became interested in the work itself, instead of thinking that I am crazy," said the fine arts master's degree student.

He hopes his realistic artwork will make people ponder whether they are consuming food, or food is consuming them.

"Everyone's life is rushed nowadays, even when it comes to eating," he said. "When we eat, we don't think about our health or safety, we only think of our taste buds."

As an undergraduate art student, Kittiwat started painting portraits. He then moved to mixed media and finally dough - a natural medium for him since his family runs a bakery.

Along with edible human heads crafted from dough, chocolate, raisins and cashews, Kittiwat makes human arms, feet, and chicken and pig parts. He uses anatomy books and his vivid memories of visiting a forensics museum to create the human parts.

He now is receiving regular orders from the curious and from pranksters who want to surprise their friends or colleagues, but that's a minor sideline.

By the end of the year, Kittiwat's confectionary slaughterhouse will go on display at Bangkok's Silpakorn University. It's his final dissertation, and he hopes it will secure him a master of arts degree.

"When people see the bread, they don't want to eat it. But when they taste it, it's just normal bread," he said. "The lesson is 'don't judge just by outer appearances.'"